WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.N. officials told Israel they will suspend aid operations across Gaza unless urgent steps are taken to better protect humanitarian workers, two U.N. officials said.
A U.N. letter sent to senior Israeli officials this month said Israel must provide U.N. workers with direct communication with Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza, among other steps, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations with Israeli officials. The U.N. officials said there has been no final decision on suspending operations across Gaza and that talks with Israelis were ongoing.
Israeli military officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel has acknowledged some military strikes on humanitarian workers, including an April attack that killed seven workers with the World Central Kitchen, and denied allegations of others.
The U.N. World Food Program has already suspended aid delivery from a U.S.-built pier in Gaza over security concerns.
U.N. and other aid officials have complained for months that they have no way to communicate quickly and directly with Israeli forces on the ground, in contrast with the usual procedures — known as “deconfliction” — in conflict zones globally to protect aid workers from attack by combatants.
The U.N. and aid workers also complain of increasing lawlessness in Gaza and have urged Israel to do more to improve overall security for their operations.
“Missiles hit our premises, despite being deconflicted,” said Steve Taravella, a spokesman for the World Food Program, one of the main organizations working on humanitarian delivery in Gaza, said Tuesday. Taravella was not one of those confirming the U.N. threat to suspend operations across the territory. “WFP warehouses have been caught in the crossfire twice in the past two weeks.”
